The present invention relates generally to tuber or root planting equipment used in planting potato seeds and, more particularly to a potato seed cutter apparatus, that provides a more uniform potato seed used to process seed.
Selected types of tuber vegetables, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, and the like, are seeded by slicing or dicing a seed tuber and planting the seed slice below the surface of the ground. Specifically, a potato is sliced into seed sections of about two to three inches square and then planted below the ground for the next crop. The process of slicing seed potatoes into seeds has been automated by the use of sophisticated machinery. The machinery passes a potato through a series of coulter blades to slice the potato into a section having the thickness of the distance between two adjacent coulter blades and then passes the section to a feeder for planting in the ground. There are problems associated with the current potato seed cutters that utilize a bank of coulter blades to slice the potato into seed sections.
One problem derives from dirt and debris not completely removed from the bulk seed source of seed potatoes left from a previous growing season. Often, debris and dirt, which includes small rocks roughly the size of the potatoes, passes over a transport grid and reaches the coulter blades. As rocks are much harder than the seed potatoes and even the coulter blades, the rocks damage the coulter blades or become lodged between the blades and prevent efficient slicing of the seed sections.
Another problem involving potato seed cutters is that the beds upon which the seed potatoes are placed so that they may be fed through the coulter blades suffer from potatoes lodging along the side paths of the beds, thereby jamming the feeder bed and coulter blades on the edges.
Yet, another problem involving the potato seed cutter machinery is that the seed potato sections often stick within the coulter blades due to the starch and moisture contained in the seed potato. With the potatoes sticking between the coulter blades and clogging them, the blades are unable to slice additional seed potatoes efficiently. Further still, the seed potatoes sometimes come in a variety of shapes that range between large and small relative to a desired average seed potato size. As they pass through the coulter blades, sections can still be of a size too large for efficient planting and handling by the planting apparatus of the seeding assembly.
Accordingly, what is needed is a tuber seed cutter apparatus that processes potatoes for planting, overcomes the observed problems of the prior art by directing the potatoes in the feed bed more efficiently towards the coulter blades, slices the seed potatoes more uniformly prevents seed potatoes from sticking within the coulter blade assembly and provides a more uniformed size of seed after slicing.
According to the present invention, a tuber seed cutting apparatus is disclosed that includes a cutting section and a transport section. The cutting section includes a plurality of coulter blades coaxially spaced apart on a common axis. The transport section comprises a transport bed having a first side and an opposite second side and a plurality of rollers. The rollers move as a bed generally in a first direction towards the coulter blades, but rotate in a direction opposite the direction of the transport bed. The rollers comprise a plurality of first roller types and a plurality of second roller types that are placed adjacent either the first side or the second side, the second roller types being generally cylindrical and having a diagonal ridge placed on the circumference of the second roller type to direct items away from the sides and towards the center of the transport bed.
The tuber cutting apparatus also includes a slicing blade, mounted generally radially to the coulter blades. The seed cutting section comprises a pair of rotating drums positioned adjacent the slicing blade for drawing tubers cut by the coulter blade device to the slicing blade. A plurality of stripper fingers are provided such that the fingers are placed between adjacent coulter blades. The coulter blade assembly is designed to move both left-right or u-down between a first position and a second position, either manually or automatically. The tuber seed cutting can also include a hopper with conveyor coupled to the transport bed as well as a tuber sorter and grader coupled to the transport bed conveyor, which is coupled to the coulter blade device.